ISMS Review: Ensuring ISO 27001 Compliance and Regulatory Alignment

Several public sector entities in Queensland and New South Wales, including local government bodies, engaged OCM to conduct a thorough review of their Information Security Management System (ISMS) as they prepared their annual attestation reports. An ISMS offers a structured framework to manage information security risks and ensure compliance with the ISO 27001 standard.

THE PROJECT

Each of our clients required an ISMS review to meet government regulations such as Queensland’s Information Standard 18 attestation and NSW Cyber Security Policy reporting. OCM was engaged with verifying evidence of their risk management practices and continuous compliance processes, as well as assessing the effectiveness of the security controls across the organisation.

OUR ROLE

OCM’s team of skilled professionals, experts in the design, implementation, and monitoring of ISMS, led the comprehensive review. We offered flexibility in scope, allowing the client to select specific ISO 27001 clauses for assessment or opt for a full-scale ISMS review. This approach aligned with the continuous improvement requirement of the standard.

Our role included:

• Assessing ISMS compliance with ISO 27001 to ensure that policies, procedures, and controls were effectively implemented and fully compliant.
• Verifying risk management practices, evaluating the client’s ability to identify, assess, and mitigate information security risks.
• Reviewing the effectiveness of controls, ensuring operational controls were functioning properly and aligned with business objectives.

Key outcomes from our detailed ISMS evaluation:

• Identified gaps in ISO 27001 compliance, uncovering areas for improvement in policies, procedures, and controls.
• Confirmed the effectiveness of risk management processes and highlighted areas requiring enhancement.
• Identified nonconformities and provided actionable insights for corrective actions and improvements.
• Presented strategic recommendations to senior management, aiding informed decisions about the ISMS’s future direction.

Our review resulted in several key benefits for clients:

• Enhanced risk management, improving the identification and mitigation of information security risks, reducing the potential for breaches.
• Ensured regulatory and legal compliance, helping the organisation meet legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations while avoiding penalties.
• Strengthened trust and reputation by demonstrating a robust commitment to information security, reinforcing relationships with customers, partners, and stakeholders.
• Improved business continuity by better protecting critical information assets, even during operational disruptions
• Promoted ongoing security improvements, fostering continuous adaptation of the ISMS to respond to emerging threats.

OCM’s expertise ensured each clients’ ISMS was not only compliant with ISO 27001 but also a robust tool for managing information security, providing lasting value to the organisation.